National Mandolin Tailpiece, repair or replace?

I have a 1929 National Style 1 mandolin and the tailpiece has developed a crack on one side at the sharp bend. Apparently this is a common issue with these.

I’m interested in a replacement tailpiece or to find someone that can repair the original one. I understand that silver soldering is possible but that will most certainly damage the nickel plating.

Can someone suggest a repairman that could fix and re-plate the repair if I can’t find an original replacement?

Thanks for you help!

Mark

Attachment 197742

A past thread on the subject can be found here. I think there may be a few more.

The product discussed in the thread above is at Elderly

https://www.elderly.com/products/res...26854207225920

Mike,

Thanks for posting the link to the ten year old thread and the Elderly source. I read through that before posting this and was hoping to find some more up to date information. I would have contacted Paul H but unfortunately he is gone, I followed the archtop link as well but couldn’t find anything about tailpiece repairs.

Thanks again for any leads.

Mark

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkELynch

Mike,

Thanks for posting the link to the ten year old thread and the Elderly source. I read through that before posting this and was hoping to find some more up to date information. I would have contacted Paul H but unfortunately he is gone, I followed the archtop link as well but couldn’t find anything about tailpiece repairs.

Thanks again for any leads.

Mark

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Paul left us way too soon. He was the go to guy for this stuff. Good luck on your quest.

Harry Eibert repaired mine many years ago. He is up near Syracuse,NY. I believe he would have replated it for a little more money. At that time there were no replacements except original period ones.

link to his info: https://g.co/kgs/YUUR3M

Any jeweler who does repairs can do this very easily. Will probably sand off the plating (on the inside, right at the corner) before silver soldering. Ask them to make an angle piece the full width and caution to keep the existing angle there, because after the repair you will not want to bend it at all. The angle piece might be, say, 3//8x3/8x width. Jewelers also have contacts with platers who do small stuff. Specify that you want nickel, if that’s what’s there now. As nickel is the underplate for chrome, anyone who does chrome plating can also do nickel. You can also DIY with electroless nickel, but it won’t be thick enough to take wear.

I'd treat it the same way as I would treat a cracked bridge on an old Martin guitar-- replace the bridge and keep the old one in the case pocket.

Thinking :confused: given there is Asian versions of national metal bodied , there is a copy tailpiece part from same sources.

Well, you could always just sell it to me. :whistling: When I was still interested in the bullet-hole Republic, I did some research on replacement tailpieces, and while there are far fewer listed for mandolins than guitars, they're out there. Unfortunately, I think most if not all I saw were recently manufactured, not vintage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mandroid

Thinking :confused: given there is Asian versions of national metal bodied , there is a copy tailpiece part from same sources.

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^THIS^

Plus, you could also contact National Guitars (formerly National Resonator) about it. They might just have exactly the part you want, or might even make one for you.

Thanks for all of your kind suggestions! I sent a message to Jason at National and he replied that no replacements were available but said he could repair and re-plate my original brass tailpiece for $100 plus return postage. The repair involves brazing fully across the underside of the bend, grinding, polishing and plating. Turnaround time he said would be about 3-4 weeks.

Jason writes: We typically do [braze] the entire underside to prevent future cracking.

Please print this email and mark the box to my attention: Jason Workman National Reso-Phonic Guitars 871 Via Esteban Unit C San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

While not as economical as the $15 tailpiece from Elderly I think I’ll have the original repaired. Apparently this is a common occurrence.

Attachment 197879

Mark

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkELynch

While not as economical as the $15 tailpiece from Elderly I think I’ll have the original repaired. Apparently this is a common occurrence.

Mark

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Yes, that is what happened to mine. Cracked along the fold in the metal tailpiece.

Resophinic outfitters also stock something that looks similar to the Elderly product:

http://www.resophonicoutfitters.com/product/BTP-8.html

Dan, Thanks for listing the source for resophonic parts, I had not discovered this in my earlier searches.
The tailpiece looks good but it is made for ball end strings not loop end strings typical. The selection of ball end mandolin strings is more limited.
Thanks again for point out this supplier!

Mark

If you save the ball from old guitar strings you can add them to the mandolin strings. It would be a little finicky, but would work. Also a guitar string with the same wrap and gauge as the mandolin string would be the same. They should be available as singles and you can make up a set.